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Festival della Valle D'Itria

The Festival of Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca

The Festival of Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca was founded in 1975 by a group of music-lovers led by Alessandro Caroli, first president of the Festival, with the decisive support of Franco Punzi, mayor of Martina Franca at the time, and Paolo Grassi, superintendent at the Teatro Alla Scala. Right from the start the main characteristic of the Festival was the brave re-proposal of underestimated repertoires and musical performances. From 1980, with Franco Punzi as president and under Rodolfo Celletti’s artistic direction and with expertise in vocal music, the Festival enhanced its original identity, which aimed at revaluating the belcanto repertoire and the tradition of the Neapolitan music school, whose major protagonists were composers from Apulia. This did not mean neglecting the great European repertoire: special importance was given to elements of Italian belcanto in the works of foreign authors. Under the artistic direction of Sergio Segalini, between 1994 and 2009, the Festival further developed an international dimension in its choice of repertoire. Alberto Triola, who took up the artistic direction in 2010, intends to broaden the horizons of the Festival to include 20thcentury and contemporary operas, while also focusing on the Baroque belcanto repertoire and musical theatre. The Festival’s productions are characterised by the authenticity of the texts (often performed in their full-length version) and by the faithfulness to the original vocal types, respecting the original musical scores and performances. Since 1975 over a hundred operas have been presented at the Festival della Valle d’Itria. It is worth mentioning that the Festival has been awarded the much-acclaimed Premio Abbiati by the Associazione nazionale dei critici musicali italiani, and it is also a member of important associations such as the EFA (European Festivals Association), the CIDIM (Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica) and Italiafestival, of which it is an honorary member.